![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ChrisMares-150x150.jpg\")
\nThe words myth, belief, and truth are all very powerful and evocative.\u00a0 They connote many different things and are also quite confounding.\u00a0 After all, I may know what a myth is, but what do I believe? And, what do I know to be true?<\/p>\n
After several lengthy dog walks in the woods near my house mulling how these words relate meaningfully to my teaching, I have will start with a simple definition of each, an example of each, then a rumination on qualitative truths:<\/p>\n
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Myth<\/b> \u2013 A widely held but false belief or idea<\/p>\n
It is a myth that there is a single best way to teach language<\/i>.<\/p>\n
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Belief<\/b> \u2013 Something one accepts as true<\/p>\n
I believe all students can be inspired to learn.<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Truth<\/b> \u2013 That which is true or in accordance with fact or reality<\/p>\n
It is true that students will learn despite what I do.<\/i><\/p>\n
I will take these three statements as my call to action.\u00a0 If there is no single best way to teach language, then the door is open!\u00a0 There must be more, two, three, four \u2026 lots.\u00a0 If this is the case then I should find out more, experiment, take risks, and see what I can discover.\u00a0 By the same token, if I believe that all students can be inspired to learn then I must take each student individually and find a way to inspire them, accepting that not all students will be inspired in the same way, but that one or more way will inspire them.\u00a0 And finally, if it is true, and it is, that students will learn despite what I do then this, like the myth that there is a single way to teach language, is also a tremendous permission to get creative.<\/p>\n
There are more truths, though.\u00a0 These truths are the ones that come to us over the course of our time as teachers.\u00a0 I feel these experiential truths, which cannot be quantified, and therefore are not empirical, are still valid and I shall explore ones I feel are significant for me, and perhaps for you, too.<\/p>\n
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All students deserve the teacher\u2019s attention<\/b><\/p>\n
It is easy to respond to the students who raise their hands, who answer question, who do their work, and are clearly interested, and enthusiastic.\u00a0 But there are other students, who, for whatever reason my not be as engaged or as clearly interested.\u00a0 These students deserve the teacher\u2019s attention, too.\u00a0 It may not be as easy to lure them out, or inspire them, or get them focused but it is our job to do this.\u00a0 For all our students.\u00a0 It takes effort on behalf of the teacher and a sensitivity to what may lie behind the seemingly passive or disinterested face.\u00a0 However, one of the great rewards of teaching is to get a disinterested learner interested.<\/p>\n
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No two classes are ever the same<\/b><\/p>\n
I used to teach large university classes in Japan and would often be using the same course book with two or more classes.\u00a0 Many times I taught the same unit to three different classes in one day.\u00a0 After a while I noticed that a unit I had successfully taught to one class would fall flat in another.\u00a0 It struck me as odd that the same lesson plan could work with one class and not with another.\u00a0 It took me a while to realize that the variable I had forgotten to factor in to my planning was the particular chemistry of the class itself as well as the individual members of the classes.\u00a0 My automaton approach was focused on the lesson plan and the material to be covered, and not on the students themselves and how the material may have needed to be modified or presented differently according to the specific class being taught. It\u2019s always about the students.<\/p>\n
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There will never be a class in which all students are \u2018the same level\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
In my early days of teaching I craved classes where all students were at the same level.\u00a0 I found it constantly frustrating that this was never the case.\u00a0 Then, inspired by Adrian Underhill, I turned my \u2018low yield\u2019 response to a \u2018high yield\u2019 question.\u00a0 My response had been, \u2018If you guys were all at the same level, then my life would be so much easier.\u2019\u00a0 My question then became, \u2018In what way could I change my teaching in such a way that I could reach all of you?\u2019\u00a0 This was a moment of profound realization that changed my approach to students and teaching in a wonderfully rewarding way.\u00a0 It made me ask the deeper questions.\u00a0 Rather than stating to myself, \u2018Well that didn\u2019t work,\u2019 I would reflectively ask myself, \u2018How could I have done that differently in a way that would have been more productive or interesting for students?\u2019<\/p>\n
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Teaching is an art<\/b><\/p>\n
Successful teaching requires the balancing of a complex set of variables that are often in a state of flux themselves.\u00a0 To be able to achieve a balance that results in efficient teaching and meaningful learning is an art.\u00a0 It takes time to achieve competency and longer to achieve mastery.\u00a0 Moreover, risks must be taken and mistakes made.\u00a0 This is how we learn our craft.\u00a0 Our art.<\/p>\n
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A lesson plan is a guide not a contract<\/b><\/p>\n
Teachers are often trained to plan lessons in terms of goals and objectives and to frame classes according to time spent on presentation, practice, and production.\u00a0 This is understandable, especially when working within the constraints of an imposed curriculum.\u00a0 Teachers are less often trained to look for moments of serendipity when a chance occurrence may lead to the possibility for temporarily abandoning the lesson plan when a teaching moment occurs.\u00a0 To view the lesson plan as a guide and not the be all and end all is a healthy perspective to take as it allows for creativity and also a degree of unpredictability.<\/p>\n
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Trust is the key<\/b><\/p>\n
In order for students to improve mistakes must be made and it is important to encourage students to take risks with new language.\u00a0 In order to do this students must feel safe which means they have to trust that their teacher is there to support and guide them and not to penalize them for making mistakes.\u00a0 Positive reinforcement in a trusting atmosphere leads to efficient learning which is what we are after.<\/p>\n
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Connect with Chris and other iTDi Associates, Mentors, and Faculty by joining iTDi Community. Sign Up For A Free iTDi Account<\/a> to create your profile and get immediate access to our social forums and trial lessons from our English For Teachers<\/a> and Teacher Development<\/a> courses.<\/p>\n Myth, Belief, Truth Chris Mares The words myth, belief, and truth are all very powerful and evocative.\u00a0 They connote many different things and are also quite confounding.\u00a0 After all, I may know what a myth is, but what do I believe? And, what do I know to be true? After several lengthy dog walks in … Continue reading Myths, Beliefs, and Truth in ELT – Chris<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":4119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-myths-beliefs-truth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itdi.pro\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Like what we do? Become an iTDi Patron<\/a>.
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